Yongin kalguksu restaurant with 6 live abalone: Jangwongap Giheung

The weather's finally cooling down :) I'd always noticed Jangwongap Kalguksu was packed with cars every time I visited Lotte Outlet Giheung, so I finally went to check it out! It kept coming up in reviews as one of the best restaurants near Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung for kalguksu (noodle soup), so my expectations were sky-high — and I was even more satisfied because the whole meal unfolds like a course. Here's my Jangwongap Kalguksu review!

Where is Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch, and what are the hours?

Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch is on the 1st floor of 90 Gomae-ro, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, three minutes from Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung. Hours are 10:30–21:00 with a break time from 16:00–17:00, and there was plenty of parking space right in front of the restaurant.

Inside Jangwongap: a bright, roomy dining hall with full glass walls

The moment I stepped inside, I was struck by how spacious and clean it felt — the full glass wall opened up to green nature and sky outside. The view itself was so lush and pretty that my mood lifted before I'd even eaten.

Even though it was a weekday, the place was completely full, but because it's so spacious and airy it never felt cramped, and the staff were kind even while clearly busy!

What comes with the abalone and brisket shabu kalguksu for two at 22,000 won per person

We ordered the Live Abalone Brisket Shabu Kalguksu for 2 [₩22,000 per person]. Signs about the house-made noodles and patent-pending banners covered the walls — you could really feel their pride in the noodles. The menu ranged from a budget-friendly basic course up to a brisket-and-abalone course, and there was also a seafood-loaded pajeon (savory pancake), but we figured it'd be too much for two people, so we stuck to the kalguksu course.

For broth, you can choose red, white, or mala — we picked red! Not long after, look at what arrived: six live abalone, brisket and minari (water dropwort) for wraps, a red broth packed with vegetables, and the noodles! Just looking at it, it's incredibly generous.

Six live abalone, tender and beautifully plated

The live abalone were genuinely still moving, they were so fresh! And the plating with minari and lotus root as accents looked really upscale and pretty.

Have you ever had live abalone in shabu? Dipped into the boiling shabu broth, it cooked through to perfect tenderness in no time! Wow, the abalone was so soft! It went great dipped in sesame oil sauce or wasabi-soy sauce :)

Premium wagyu brisket in minari wraps with galchi sokjeot

Before really digging into the noodles, we filled up on meat first!

I loved that they also gave instructions on the best way to eat it :)

Following the instructions, I lightly blanched the brisket, piled on plenty of fragrant fresh minari, and dipped it into sesame oil sauce pressed at a real oil mill — the nuttiness spread all through my mouth!! That sesame oil sauce was legit!! Oil pressed straight from a traditional mill really is on another level.

Adding a bit of galchi-sokjeot (fermented hairtail innards) on top gave it a savory, umami kick too — such a treat. And the brisket was so tender, truly premium meat 👍🏻

House-made noodles kneaded 1,000 times, the pride of Jangwongap

Seafood, vegetables, meat — done. Now for the star of this Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung favorite: the house-made kalguksu noodles!

These fresh noodles are made using a 60-year-old noodle-making method, kneaded over a thousand times — apparently that's why the raw dough stretches like mozzarella without breaking!! Which means the noodles themselves are super chewy!! When adding the noodles, you're supposed to pour them straight into the pot instead of using tongs.

A screen kept telling us to eat the noodles in stages over time, so I decided to try it! They even set up a sand timer for it haha! Eating it in timed stages meant the noodle texture changed at each step, which made comparing them along the way pretty fun!

It's set to 5 minutes, so the moment you add the noodles, you flip the sand timer too. If you want it spicier, you can add gochu-dadegi (chili paste). The first bite of noodles was so chewy and springy, clinging perfectly to the mouth!

A bit later, I tried dipping the noodles in the sesame oil sauce too — wow, this was next level, the springy noodles mixed with the nutty richness of the sauce sent my salivary glands into overdrive!

The uiseong garlic kimchi, made fresh three times a day using a secret broth of natural ingredients, was refreshing and packed with umami eaten alongside the noodles — an absolutely perfect balance with the kalguksu! Even the kimchi at Jangwongap Kalguksu felt clean and made with real care! After about 9–10 minutes, the noodles had soaked up so much broth that they turned wonderfully soft and pillowy — that's exactly why they tell you to notice the texture change over time!

Ending the meal with 100% perilla oil kkakdugi fried rice

No Korean meal is complete without this finale! Here, fried rice comes included whenever you order shabu — isn't that basically the perfect course? When we ordered the kkakdugi (radish kimchi) fried rice, they brought out a little dish brimming with perilla oil 👍🏻 the ingredients alone were mouthwatering.

They add the fried rice ingredients and pour in that generous perilla oil, apparently pressed fresh at a mill too! Well-fermented kkakdugi gets mixed into the rice, and they said the more thoroughly you mix it, the better it tastes, so I stirred away with real effort!!

The perilla oil kkakdugi fried rice is done :) So fragrant — no matter how full you are, there's always room for fried rice! A totally perfect finish.

The free dessert corner at Jangwongap Kalguksu

On the way out after paying, there's a dessert corner, and even here the scale is different! There were several kinds of ppeongtwigi (puffed rice snacks), cool misugaru (roasted grain drink), and even proper coffee ready to go.

Why Jangwongap Kalguksu is packed even on weekdays

• Coming here in person, I completely understood why it's full of customers even on weekdays!
• Taste, atmosphere, kindness, attention to detail — this Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung favorite, Jangwongap Kalguksu, truly didn't miss a beat!
• A place you'll want to come back to again after just one visit!
• If you're looking for a genuinely satisfying course-style meal that lives up to their pride in their noodles, I highly recommend a visit!